This market in Liège / Belgium happens on Sundays for which a good stretch of the La Batte street along the Meuse river is blocked. And it is really fun to visit this open market. Liège was once a city in a coal mining region having contributed to the post war wealth in Europe. And the city, despite its very beauty, is certainly not a rich one. And this leads back to the market. This market provides goods to not so wealthy people, but is still full of little surprises.

The market hosts almost everything between live animals (chicken, rabbits, birds etc.), meat, cheese, vegetables etc. But it also offers great plastic junk – spend only a couple Euros and the kids are happy – and clothes as well, which are not related to the Armanis. There are also small stands offering nice food like hotdogs with sauerkraut, Vietnamese spring rolls and all sorts of stuff.

As the market stretches quite long, a couple hours goes by so fast and even than not all stands would have received their adequate attention. But it is fun! And so much to discover. And it has a little rough edge. This is visible for example when live hens are packed in used cardboard boxes when bought by a new owner who wants to produce his/her own eggs for a Sunday breakfast or whatever.

What is sometimes overseen are the stands which offer little delicacies, it is worth to keep an eye open for new discoveries. This is in contrast to quite a few stands which seem to be rather the extension of wholesale suppliers, but all with charm.

The highlights: the live animals, and the little discoveries of nice local food.

All in all: not a market of the first league from the food perspective, but certainly worth a visit for its special character.

A little link list:

• Reviews in Trip Advisor
• Location in Belgian market directory
• La Batte market in city council web site (French)
• A beautiful blog article from theFlippingFish

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